LocostUSA.com

... before you start driving it. Otherwise it is never going to get "finished".

So, I am 27 months in to my Locost building Adventure. The "Book" purchase happened in early 2009 when I found a reasonably priced first edition. Then I found a pristine 2nd edition, Tanner, Gibbs, 4 textbooks on welding.... Most of you know the story.

I got my VIN plate April 20th, tags the same day. Car is still not complete, but Alabama is pretty easy on home built cars. Ran 400 test miles around the Huntsville area. Then I made a big step.

This past weekend, I did something I have wanted to do since my motorcycle days. Go visit the Smokies. I forced my brother (yeah right) to meet me near the mountain, and we had a great time.



We drove on 165, 143 and 129. We had a blast.



Go to 720p for the best video quality.

Now, if you know the area you are aware of the rather low speed limits. 30 and 40 mph on most of the fun roads. The Law was out, so we kept it under the radar, but we still had a great time.



The car worked better than expected, and not one hiccup.

As you can see from the photos, she is a long way from "Finished" but I think it is going to stay this way for a while. The on the road real driving is way more fun than pretending in the shop.



Have fun building and be safe, you need those fingers for shifting and steering!!!

Steve

Wow great pictures and video. Thanks for the inspiration!

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+442 - Miata

Woohoo! Congrats! and as toylocost said, thanks for the inspiration!!!

That's the great thing about tiny cars. Everything feels a lot faster.

You may want to raise the bottom of the exhaust level with the bottom of the frame for cornering clearance, and when you add a grill, add a window screen around the grill for bugs. Tough to unclog those fins from the front, and the cooling fan would block access with a water hose from the back.

It looks like you could cut a couple inches out of the center of the rear fenders and still have room for the tailights. What chassis size, seat model,and fender supplier/model did you use? It looks like a miata NB donor.

When you decide to build the screen, consider buying a soft top and doors for a seven or a replica, then build the hoops and screen frame to work with it. That way, it won't be a custom job everytime.

You might also consider moving the cluster to the center, ala Toyota Echo. That way you can always see it, nomatter how small the steering wheel used. Even a slightly smaller wheel, when used in a miata where the drivers vision is at the designed height, blocks the view of some indications. Grant wheels are cheap, quick to interchange, and compact for easy storage, so you could drive to the track with a large wheel (like a 14"), then switch to a smaller one for the course (like a 12"). It makes a big difference.

Huntsville is a nice area, but I have not been there in a few years. What happened to all the NASA folks?

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Miata UBJ: ES-2074R('70s maz pickup)
Ford IFS viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13225&p=134742
Simple Spring select viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11815
LxWxHt
360LA 442E: 134.5x46x15
Lotus7:115x39x7.25
Tiger Avon:114x40x13.3-12.6
Champion/Book:114x42x11
Gibbs/Haynes:122x42x14
VoDou:113x44x14
McSorley 442:122x46x14
Collins 241:127x46x12

Thanks for the comments guys. It's been a fun journey so far.

MV*8, the last photo shows the most roll that the car has seen thus far. I am sure HPDE days around Dallas will push it a bit more. The exhaust can and tip are flush with the bottom of the frame. It just looks lower because of the angle of the photo.

I have my 1/8 SS rod for the grill frame and "7", I just need time to build it. It will have a screen mesh for bugs, and a radiator shroud to focus the air through the radiator.

Those are the free wheels that came from my 1999 AE Miata donor, they will be sold once I make a final decision on wheels (and budget allows). The fenders will work just fine and look correct with the appropriate sized wheels, tires, and possibly a spacer depending on the rim width I decide on.

This is a 442e, with Lotus Elise seats, and Caterham rear fenders. I have CSR fenders for the front, but didn't want to waste time building brackets for the small Miata wheels. Yes, NB donor. I just wish I had listened to the voice in my head saying make the tail end higher. It is a little too low from the side view.

The windscreen will be custom, as it needs to look appropriate with the roll bar height. I wanted to be sure my head was well under the roll bar (I'm 6'3"). I also don't want to have to look through the top windshield frame to see signal lights. My dad's FFR Cobra has the top frame right in line with most signal lights when you are on the stop line. You have to crane around to see the lights change. I will make a bikini top like the Jeeps use, but will not use doors. I will have wings to help with the buffeting, but I can live with that. I've already been rained on 5 times in the last few days driving it out to the Smokies, then out to Dallas on Monday. It wasn't so bad. Mostly, I would just like the sun off my neck for long drives.

I built the dash to house that cluster.





I can see everything I need to on the cluster in the seated position, even with the 280mm Momo Team that is on the car now. I do have an NRG quick release, so steering wheel options are a possibility, but the steering effort is not bad with the small wheel at this point. We will see once I have a little more tire on it.


Most the engineers I know are being picked up locally. There are plenty of companies looking for those experienced folks.

Your chassis is painted, that's the key accomplishment. With that done, everything else is an add-on and can be done anytime convenient.

I thought it funny that you said "I just need time" to build the grill... you had that time, and used it for driving

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Midlana book: Build this mid-engine Locost!, http://midlana.com/stuff/book/
Kimini book: Designing mid-engine cars using FWD drivetrains
Both available from https://www.lulu.com/

Great shots and congratulations on adding another Locost to the street legal list.



So what you're saying is he had his priorities straight?

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-Andrew
Build Log
Youtube

Believe me, I was thinking about the hood, grill, possible paint colors, windscreen... while I was driving. So it was like a dual purpose road trip. I got so many creative ideas, I think I need to take a few more trips just to work out all those thoughts. Yeah, R&D (+R&R) road trips.

The house is almost packed, so I can get back to the Locost in Dallas next week for some more "brainstorming driving".

Photochop playtime:



Stopped in Tennessee to call the wife, happened to be a good photo op, but I only had my phone.

Thank you all for your comments, compliments, suggestions and guidance. There would be fewer of these on the road without the knowledge and support of this site. I have learned a whole lot more going through this than I initially expected.


Thanks,

Steve